Review of version 0.3.2

by Neal Hackler

Opinion Angband is one of the most radically different Angband variants
available, not because of its new spells or monsters, but because the
basic combat and damage system has been completely reworked.

In most *bands, players attempt to get the most hits, usually from a
very light weapon such as a whip, and take slaughter wave after wave of
monsters until they find a significantly powerful ego item. In
OAngband, the skill of the character and the quality of the weapon are
the most important part of how well their character fights, as opposed
to how many times they can swing the blade in one round. In fact, until
a character reaches a very high level, they will be limited to two blows
per round, and no magical bonuses (eg. dagger of extra attacks) are
available! The damage statistic has been changed to a percentage
multiplier to the number if dice, and thus has a greater effect on
higher damaging weapons than on the single dice items of choice in many
other variants.

Outside the world of the warrior, OAngband has some changes to the
combat system as well. The four "pure" spellcaster classes, the Mage,
the Priest, the Druid, and the Necromancer, all have their own breed of
combat. Mages and Priests are similar to those of vanilla if not a
little weaker with the sword, the Druid fights barehanded, and the
Necromancer can barely fight at all.

The rogue, and it's new cousin the assasin, have a new form of combat
to specialize in: thrown weapons. The addition of throwing axes and
throwing hammers, plus "well balanced" ego items, fill in the gap that
many variants have left in the game. In fact many formerly useless
artifact weapons have become absolutely lethal in the hands of an
experienced adventurer!

There are many many more features left to be discussed in this variant,
but I don't want to spoil all of the surprises, many of which will still
surprise me (pink 'p' anyone? heh heh.) All considered, however,
OAngband is one of the best variants available to play, and with it's
recent publicity in an
Angband competition,
is bound to become one of the most popular.

An incomplete story of Don Rickles, half-troll warrior

by Lev Zakrevski

Don Rickels entered the dungeon, ready to glory! He was very strong, and was
able to perform 3 blows with a dagger from the very start. But still, he decided to
purchase a better weapon ASAP.

Starting (level 1-15)

A little unexpected (he was not too intelligent) but pleasant fact for Don was,
that it is easy to travel up/down in the dungeon, using connected stairs (he just
moved up, down, until it was possible to travel to the needed direction).
As result the first trips were in the region of 400 feet, so Don reached experience
level 15-16 in no time, and gathered some money from selling all staffs and wands.

He has wisely (strange!) decided to purchase a good two-handed sword (3d6)
and enchanted it to about (+7,+7). Even with only 2 blows it was a much better
deal than a dagger. Yes, plus for hits were more important.
Also, he was lucky to spot a cap of seeing at the armory - no more problems with
invisible monsters. Finally, a bit of *extreme* luck - he found some boots at 100'
- it appeared to be boots of speed (+10)!

Gathering strength (levels 15-25)

Later, however, things became more difficult, as confusing, terrifying, and
poisoning monsters became more common. So Don spent some time in the region of
900-1000' (using scrolls of Word of Recall now). Luckily, with the speed bonus
he usually had enough time to quaff potions of cure critical wounds, or use
spells of teleportation.

He decided to invest into a good missile weapon at this stage, and acquired a long
bow (+9,+9), and some arrows (mostly with 1d10 and 1d8 basic damage, some with
slays). A strange thing - arrows 1d4 of slay animal were more expensive than arrows
1d10! The missile weapon was very important! In Oangband it is even more important
then in other variants. But you need to look for good arrows. First use was
Wormtongue, who dropped a nice set of gauntlets "Cammitrin" (?).
Well, they had (+8,+8) and free action, which was very important! After this, it was slow moving
to stat gain depth - about 2000'. Just when the first potion of wisdom was found,
Don had another luck - at one level he have found the ring of Barahir (poison resist)
and the suit of Rohirrim armor (basic resistances, resist confusion - another essential
for Oangband resistance).

Roaming! (level 25-45, then retired)

After some time at stat gain Don has decided to move further. Really, he had not a
lot of challenge here! Most important equipment questions were:

Rings: He finally decided to use the ring of Barahir and a ring of nether resistance,
although there have been such rings as skill (+17), damage (+19), and speed (+7).
But there were too many poison/nether attacks.

Amulets: Candidates were Baramir (+18 damage), Faramir (+18 skill?) and an amulet
of magical items mastery (+4). The last was unexpected for Don, but with it he was
able to use wands of teleport away, and some good rods. Finally, he decided to
take Baramir and the magical amulet, swapping them sometimes.

Standard equipment kit:

20 scrolls of Teleportation

15 potions of Cure Critical Wounds (healing at the end)

about 5 potions of Restore Life Levels

about 10 food rations

5 scrolls of Word of Recall

If some items go below the minimum number, scroll of Word of Recall have been immediately used!

Some advices (for warriors in OAngband)

Use max. base damage weapon! (usually you can have at least 3d6 from the start)

Use scrolls and potions in emergencies, not wands/staffs

Most important resistancies, in order of necessity:

Free action!

See invisible

Confusion

Fire

Blindness

Cold

Poison

Lightning

Fear

Nether

Have a good missile weapon, and always think about good arrows/bolts! In
OAngband they do make a difference.

General impression - OAngband is easier to start and to finish, but more difficult
in the middle area than standard Angband (although more difficult than ZAngband
for the whole game!) I liked the changes in the combat system and the improved chests.